It was around 2am when I lay in my bed. Falling asleep was tougher than I had thought. I was shivering, was sweating even when it was 1°C and the worst of all I had no energy. I thought of waking up my parents, but I knew better of it. I just lay there, in my room flooded with moonlight, hugging my pillow, and trying to think of anything but those deadly eyes.
And then, I heard it. A sound like the rattling of rusted chains, as if they were being dragged on the floor. By floor I mean, the floor of the corridor outside my room.
I could make out that whoever was dragging them was heading directly towards my room. By then, the sound was more loud and clear. It kept coming closer and closer…I clutched my blankets as tight as I could. Still, the terrifying sound rang in my ears, until, suddenly, a pairs of green eyes popped onto my bed. The sound seemed to have ceased altogether.
These were similar to what I had seen down there but much with much more warmth in them and no intentions to harm. And to my relief I heard a low and scared meow and the eyes blinked. It was Julie, my cat. She had obviously been woken up by that horrible rattling sound out in the corridor and I wondered if my parents would also wake up and come upstairs just to see if I was ok…which I definitely wasn’t. Julie curled up inside my blanket and she was shivering as well. From fear or love, I don’t know.
The sound was so horrifying, that I couldn’t take it anymore. It was loud, very loud. I tuck my head into my blanket and tried my best to block my ears. I was pressing so hard against my ears that they started hurting. But, no effect. The person with the chains came nearer, as the chains made a louder sound. And it wasn’t only the rusted chains, a distant sound of the women crying in pain accompanied it.
The person was surely at the door of my room. But the chains still kept rattling and coming closer to my bed. I was frozen. I could feel my heart-beat getting faster by every move the person made towards me. And then, there was suddenly no sound in the room except was a tik-tok-tik of the clock. Slowly, I removed my finger from my ears. Surely the rattling of the chains had died down.
I did not dare to lower my blanket. I just hoped that with the sound, its owner would also have disappeared. But no such luck.
When I was about to believe that there was no one (human or…anyone) in the room, when, my blanket moved. Horrified, I clutched it harder. But still, it kept moving further away from me. it was just like the time when my mother would try to wake me up in the morning. If I didn’t wake up she would pull the blankets off. But, the difference was, this time it was surely not my mother or even a human.
No matter how hard I tried the one pulling my blankets was much stronger than me. I noticed Julie was no more with me. the thought , that….that…she might be dead was more that what I could bare. I shut my eyes tightly and tried to make a sound much less speak. No!! please, leave me alone!! Help, someone help me!! But nothing came out of my locked mouth. I realized I was too weak to speak. The dizzy feeling came back to me and I let go of the blanket.
I felt my blanket go down my face and involuntarily my eyes fluttered open. And then I saw it. Standing near my feet pulling the blankets away from me was, nothing. Yes, I could see nothing, but thin air. But without a doubt, the blanket was still being pulled. How, I don’t know.
Trembling with fear, not having energy just enough to speak, I prayed. It was only after a few seconds that the blankets were still.
I felt a bit of energy come back to me and took a long breath. It was as if I was given a new life. The only sounds in the room was the tik-tok-tik of the clock, my heart-beat and a faint growling of a dog. The dog’s voice was coming from woods. I did not want to know who had been in my room. Even though I had seen no one I was sure that some kind of presence had been in the room.
I was terrified and alone on the first floor and my cat was no more with me. The only thing I could think of was to get to my parent before the rattling chains returned. I tried standing up. But as soon as I was on both my feet I fell. I was not as powerful as I had thought, yet.
I got onto to bed and could not get myself to slip into that blanket again. That was a night I would never forget. It was the worst one, maybe. And the nightmares didn’t help.
